Reading Books and Making Music

I often incorporate readings book into my music curriculum. This may seem strange but I have my reasons. There are lots of connections to reading with music. The most obvious one to me is rhythm. When you read a book where the words have a cadence, or a rhyme, you can hear rhythm. If you read the book enough times (how many times have the kids asked for "more"?), children can perhaps memorize and recite the words to the book, creating rhythm on their own. A fun book with great rhythm and illustrations that I usee in my class is "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" by Bill Martin Jr. & John Archambault, illustrated by Lois Ehlert.

Another great reason to read books in music class is to practice making sounds with your mouth. This helps develop the muscles and brain connections for speech. Any book with silly sounds or animal sounds works

for this. You can also have a great bonding experience with your child when you practice sounds together. One book I like to read in my class with sounds is "The Ear Book" By Al Perkins & illustrated by Henry Payne. This reminds us about how our body works and gives a great opportunity to make some sounds that we might hear everyday.

Another book I like to read in my class is "Animals Speak" by Lila Prap. I love this book for the great illustrations and it's global outlook. We get to find out what animals "say" in different languages. It's a great way to create awareness of other cultures and to practice making different sounds. Who knew a cat says "Midheabh" in Irish?!

A brilliant music themed book for kids is called "Jazz Baby" by Lisa Wheeler and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. It makes great use of jazzy sounds and scatting while honoring the culture from which jazz music emerged. This is a really fun one to read!

Look for more music themed books at your local library. There are lots to choose from. And if you feel like you're no good at music, pick up a book about music and read it to your child!